Tag Archive: Black Liberation

Update: On June 30th, Sekou Kambui was transferred to a halfway house in Dotham, AL. He is likely to remain in that or another halfway house for the next six months. His transfer represents much more freedom and an end to the retaliation of vicious prison guards; Sekou, however, will certainly continue to need support to meet his basic needs. More updates will come as DABC knows more about his situation.

To the years ahead of working with Sekou outside the walls, and to a world without prisons!

This morning, after forty years in the hands of the State, New Afrikan political prisoner Sekou Kambui has been paroled! Given the provision that Sekou finds an approved halfway house and transition program, he will be released from Bibb County Correctional in a few weeks.

We want to thank everyone who signed the petition, called the parole board, and especially Sekou’s tireless supporters in Alabama, Houston, and elsewhere.

Sekou’s long-delayed parole hearing has finally been scheduled for the 18th of June! We are making one last push for letters of support, petition signatures, and funds to get myself and another supporter (and more folks, if possible) down to Alabama for the hearing. In the state of Alabama, parole hearings are held outside of the prison, and prisoners cannot attend. Supporters, however, can pack these hearings, and it would be of great help to Sekou to have vocal support there.

Below is the link to an EverRibbon page set up by a fellow Sekou supporter in Colorado. If there’s any money you can donate, please do so here:

This week marked the 29th anniversary of the Philadelphia police’s deadly confrontation with the black liberation group MOVE. On May 13, 1985, police bombed an entire city block in its attack on the organization, killing 11 people (including five children) and injuring dozens more.

The PBS documentary “Let the Fire Burn” is streaming for free online until May 19. It uses archival footage and interviews with survivors to tell the tale. Watch it here.

In a Democracy Now! exclusive, former Black Panther Party leader Marshall “Eddie” Conway joins us less than 24 hours after his release from nearly 44 years in prison. Supporters describe Conway as one of the country’s longest-held political prisoners. He was convicted of killing a Baltimore police officer in 1970, for which he has always maintained his innocence. The shooting occurred at a time when federal and local authorities were infiltrating and disrupting the Black Panthers and other activist groups. At the time of the shooting, the FBI was also monitoring Conway’s actions as part of its counterintelligence program, COINTELPRO. Numerous groups have campaigned for years calling for his release, saying he never received a fair trial and was convicted largely on the basis of testimony from a jailhouse informant. Politically active in prison, Conway founded Friend of a Friend, a group that helps young men, often gang members, resolve conflicts, and published a memoir, “Marshall Law: The Life & Times of a Baltimore Black Panther.” In his first interview since being released, Marshall details his time behind bars and the government surveillance he faced as a prominent Black Panther.

Former Black Panther leader and convicted cop killer Marshall “Eddie” Conway was released after four decades behind bars on Tuesday, after striking an agreement with prosecutors over a challenge to his conviction based on of the way judges explained the law to juries in old cases.

Conway, now 67, spent more than 40 years behind bars after being convicted in the 1970 killing of Baltimore Police Officer Donald Sager, 35, who was killed in an ambush. Conway has maintained his innocence, saying that he was set up, and denied any role in the attack. For years there has been a campaign by supporters to get him pardoned.

His release Tuesday after a hearing in Baltimore Circuit Court was a result of the “Unger” decision, under which the state’s highest court ruled that jurors had been given improper instructions in cases tried before 1980. More than a dozen people were released last summer as a result of the decision, and officials have said as many as 200 others could be released. (more…)

February 20, 2014: Pittsburgh PA — Russell Maroon Shoatz was released from solitary confinement into the general prison population at State Correctional Institution (SCI) Graterford this morning, ending more than 22 consecutive years in solitary confinement. The news was confirmed by Maroon during a legal call with an attorney from the Abolitionist Law Center.

Maroon’s son, Russell Shoatz III, said, “We are very excited that this day has finally come. My father being released from solitary confinement is proof of the power of people organizing against injustice, and the importance of building strong coalitions. I especially want to thank all of those who have supported the collective struggle to end my father’s solitary confinement, including my siblings and members of the Shoatz family, the Human Rights Coalition, Abolitionist Law Center, Scientific Soul Sessions, the entire legal team, UN Special Rapporteur Juan Mendez, the 5 Nobel Peace Laureates, the National Lawyers Guild, Center for Constitutional Rights, along with the dozens of other organizations and thousands of individuals who have participated in this effort.”

The move comes after Maroon, who turned 70-years-old in August 2013, was transferred to three different Pennsylvania prisons in the past nine months. It marks the first time that Shoatz has been in the general prison population in the state of Pennsylvania since 1983, when he was placed in solitary confinement due to his work with the Pennsylvania Association of Lifers to abolish life-without-parole sentences. For a 17-month period between 1989-1991, Maroon was held in the general prison population at the federal penitentiary at Leavenworth, Kansas. (more…)

The following is a statement Tom Manning sent to Jericho for “far and wide distribution.”

Mandela. He gave his life and we except his gift with sadness and determination to stay focused on the principles and promise of a world worthy of Amandla! Power of the people! It has been, and continues to be a long walk to freedom. The struggle continues!

Robert Seth Hayes is currently 65 years old. He was first diagnosed with Type II diabetes in the year 2000. In the 13 years since then, DOCCS has been completely unable to control his blood sugar levels. At the time he was diagnosed, Mr. Hayes was at Clinton. He was transferred to Wende in 2003 and then to Sullivan in 2010.

Throughout this time, Mr. Hayes’ sugar levels have either soared to the 300 to 400 levels or been extremely low, in the 50 to 70 levels, both life-threatening. Mr. Hayes also has Hepatitis C, for which he is currently not receiving any treatment. (more…)

Woodfox seeks a court ruling that would end such searches as routine prison policy any time he is removed from his cell block for outdoor exercise, visits to the infirmary, visits from friends or family and discussions with his attorneys. (more…)